Air conditioning apparatus for railway cars



Feb. 7, 1950 n. s. RITTER 2,496,751

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed. Jan. 51., 194? 4 She'ets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

Feb, 1 1950 I. s. Rm-ER 2,496,751

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Jan. 51, I94? 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. I r14 LS. Effi r BY Feb. 7, 1950 s. RITTER 2,496,751

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Jan. 31, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

V/LZ? 7s r one side of a car. sists of an interconnected refrigerant compressor, refrigerant liquid receiver, air cooling evaporator Patented Feb. 7, 1950 AIR coNorrioNmG APPARATUS Fon RAILWAY CARS Irving S. Ritter,-Sharon, Mass, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application anuary 31, 1947, Serial No. 125.471

This invention relates to the conditioning of air, and relates more particularly to air conditioning apparatus for railway passenger cars:

For economy of space the railroads prefer that the air conditioning apparatus for a railway passenger car, be located in one end of the car above the passenger space. However the available space there is so limited that it is difficult to install the apparatus properly, and to remove it for "servicing or replacement. Another disadvantage of such a location is that the air conditioning apparatus has considerable weight which the car structure was not designed to support.

This invention overcomes the disadvantages described in the foregoing by providing packaged units supplied by the manufacturer of the air conditioning equipment to the railroads or the car builders, which units can easily be installed in and removed from the cars.

In one embodiment'of the invention, one packaged unit provides rails for slidably receiving the other packaged units, the rails becoming part 'of the car structure when installed and supporting the weight of the air conditioning equipment. Another packaged unit consists of an interconnected refrigerant compressor, refrigerant liquid receiver, air cooling evaporator and refrigerant condenser slidable on the rails into and out of Another packaged unit conand refrigerant condenser slidable along the rails into and out of the other side of the-car.

The units slidable along the rails, are slid thereon into their working positions'where they r are fitted to the cooperating apparatus installed in the car.

Two compressor units are provided, each with its own condenser unit for sharing peak loads, and for providing continuous service in case'of the failure of one.

Objects of the invention are to simplify the installation of, the removal of, and the servicing of, air conditioning equipment for passenger vehicles.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view in section, of a railway passenger car equipped with air conditioning equipment embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the air conditionin 4 Claims. (Cl. 62-117) equipment, the car structure being shown in lation in a passenger car.

dashed line outline;

Fig. 5 is a plan view looking downwardly upon the rails in place in the car structure, their cooperating supporting members, and the gaskets which the evaporators and the condensers contact when in working positions, and their supports;

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 5, with the car roof shown in dashed line outline;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of the gaskets which one of the condensers contacts when in its working position;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fractional, projected view of one of the rails;

' Fig. 9 is a plan view looking downwardly upon the rails, the apparatus supports slidable thereon;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown by Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view along the lines I l--l l of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view along the lines I2--l 2 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view along the lines I3-l3 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 14 is a sectional view along the lines l4--|4 of Fig. 9, and

Fig. 15 is a sectional view along the lines l5-I 5 of Fig. 9.

The drawings illustrate the application of the invention to a railway passenger car which, as illustrated by Figs. 2', 3 and 6 has its roof hinged at 2| and 22 so that it can be swung up in two sections [from the two sides of the car for providing for the installations to be described.

The interior of the car has the two longitudinally extending angle irons 23 which are attached to the extensions 24a of the sides of the car, and to which the ends of the rails 24 and 25 are attached as by bolts.

The rails 24 and 25 have the perforated su ports 26 extending vertically thereabove, and the upper ends of which contact the lower surface of the roof for supporting same. The gaskets 21 are attached to the outer faces of the supports 26 around the openings 28 therein, and serve to contact and seal the inner ends of the two evaporative condensers when they are slid into position on the rails 24 and 25 as will be described.

The rails 24 and 25 and the supports 26 with their gaskets 21 are supplied as one packaged unit by the manufacturer of the air conditioning apparatus, to a railroad or car builder for instal- The rails slidably sup.-

3 port the refrigerant compressor packages as will be described.

The car is equipped by the car builder or the railroad with the air supply duct 30 which has the gasket 3! on its inner end and which is supported on transverse car beams 30a from the sides of the car. The car is also equipped with a hot water heating coil 32 supported on the beams 33 (Fig. and which has the gasket 34 formed on its side facing the gasket 3|. The gaskets 31 and 34 contact the two evaporator coils of the refrigerant compressor units when they are slid into position on the rails 24 and 25 as will be described.

The car is also equipped with the fan 36 driven by the motor 3?, the flexible-inlet duct connection 38 and the flexible outlet duct connection 39 for the fan. On opposite sides of the duct connec tion 39 are placed the outlet ducts 40 having the fans 4! and the fan driving motors 42therein, and which have the outlets 43 in the sides of the car. The inlets of the ducts 40 have the outlets of the ducts 45 connected thereto, the inlets of the'ducts 45 contacting the supports 26 around the openings 38 therein (Figs. 5, 6 and 7).

The evaporative condenser casings 46 have their outlets against the gaskets 21 on the supports 26, and contain coils which are not illustrated, and which are adapted to be sprayed with water from the nozzles 41. The pumps 48 supply water from the sumps 49 of the condensers, to the nozzles. The condensers have the air inlets 50 in the sides of the car.

The floor of the right hand sump 48 facing Fig. 1 of the drawing, is bolted by bolts extending through the holes 5! in the supports 52 which are bolted to the rail bars 54 by the bolts 55 (Figs. 8-44).

The base of the right hand pump 48 is bolted by bolts extending through the holes 55 in the support 5! which is bolted to the rail bars 54.

The fioor of the left hand sump 49 is bolted by bolts extending through the holes 60 in supports BI and 62 which are bolted to the rail bars 63 by the bolts 64.

The base of the left hand pump 48 is bolted by .the holes 69 therein. The receiver H isbolted by bolts extending through the holes 13in the support 14 which is bolted to one of the rail bars 54. .The evaporator '12 is placed on the support 68 which is bolted to one of the rail bars 63.

The other refrigerant compressor package includes in addition to the left hand evaporative condenser described in the foregoing, the compressor T5, the receiver 76 and the evaporator 11, which are slid with the condenser as a unit on the rails 24 from the left side of the car. The compressor i5 is bolted to the supports 6| and 62 by bolts extending through the holes 80 therein. The receiver H is bolted to the support 8! by bolts extending through the holes 32 therein, the support 8| being bolted to one of the rail bars 63. The evaporator 11 is placed on the support 83 which is bolted to one of the rail bars 5.

The right hand compressor package is thus seen to be mounted on supports attached to the rail bars 54. The rail bars 54 are drawn outwardly through the right side of the car for receiving this equipment, following the mounting of which, the bars are slid inwardly along the rails 24 and 25, carrying the equipment into working position.

Likewise the left hand'compressor package is mounted to supports attached to the rail bars 63. The rail bars 63 are drawn outwardly through the left side of the car for receiving this equipment, following which, the bars are slid inwardly along the rails 24 and 25, carrying the equipment into working position.

The evaporators 12 and 11 when in their innermost positions have their inner, adjacent faces in contact and have their outer faces in contact with the gasket 3| and 34 respectively. As illustrated by Fig. 5, the gaskets 3| and 34' are arranged at slight angles to lines perpendicular to the sides of the car, and the evaporators have their sides adjacent the gaskets tapered slightly, whereby the evaporators are wedged into tight contact with'the gaskets when pushed into working position.

While the railway car has other equipment which is not removable according to this invention, such equipment is not subject to servicing and replacement as are the compressor and condenser equipment.

By providing duplicate compressor units each operated independently, the weight and bulk is reduced resulting in easier handling than if single larger units were provided, one set of units can operate alone to take care of light loads thus saving wear on'the other unit, and finally if one set of units fails, the other can be operated pending repair or replacement of the other.

The complete air conditioning system-also includes the outdoor air duct having the air inlet 9!, the fan 92, and the filters 93. The outlet of theduct 90 connects with the inlet of a duct 94 which connects with the inlet of the duct 30. The duct 94may contain such auxiliary equipment as an electrostatic precipitator or ultra-violet sterilizer lamps. I

In operation, the fan 92 is operated to supply outdoor air into the system. The fan 36 is operated to draw in the outdoor air; with recirculated air, if that is desired, and to move same through the evaporator coils I2 and 11 and the heating coil 32, and to blow same through the distributing duct 95 into the passenger space. The evaporator coils would, of course, be supplied with refrigeration only during the cooling season. The heating coil would be supplied with hot water only during the. heatingseason unless it was desired to reheat the chilled air when same is cooled to a low dew'point temperature for dehumidification.

For'peakloads during the cooling season both compressors 10 and 16 would be operated, each supplying its own evaporator coil with refrigeration as described in the foregoing. The condensers 46 would be connected to the high pressure sides of the compressors and at high suction pressures or temperatures, the pumps 48 would be started to supply water to the spray nozzles 41 for spraying water upon the condensers for cooling same by evaporative cooling. The fans 4| would operate during the times the compressors are in operation, to move outdoor air in through the inlets 50, over the condensers, and

out the outlets 43.

For servicing or replacement, one or both -of the:roof sections 20 can be raised for providing access to the equipment. velops or inspection is necessary, an entire package may be removed and replaced with another package, or faulty equipment in a package can be replaced, the package being slid in and out the side of the car on the rails 24 and 25 as described in the foregoing. A crane can be used to remove the slid-out equipment, and to line-up replacement equipment with the rails for installation.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described for the purpose of illustration, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact apparatus and arrangement of apparatus illustrated, as modifications thereof may be suggested by those skilled in the art with" out departure from the essence of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Air conditioning apparatus for a passenger Then if trouble de= vehicle, comprising spaced rails extending trans verse the vehicle, supporting means slidable from one side of the vehicle along the rails, a refrigerant compressor and an associated evaporator mounted on said supporting means, other supporting means slidable from the other side of the vehicle along the rails, and a refrigerant compressor and an associated evaporator mounted on said other supporting means.

2. Air conditioning apparatus for a passenger vehicle, comprising spaced rails extending transverse the vehicle, supporting means slidable from one side of the vehicle along the rails, a refrigerant condenser mounted on said supporting means, other supporting means slidable from the other side of the car along said rails, and a refrigerant condenser mounted on said other sup porting means.

3. Air conditioning apparatus for a passenger vehicle, comprising two, spaced apart rails extending transverse the vehicle, supporting means slidable along said rails, a refrigerant compressor and its associated evaporator mounted on said supporting means, other supporting means slidable along said rails, and a condenser for said compressor mounted on said other supporting means.

4. Air conditioning apparatus for a passenger vehicle, comprising two, spaced apart rails extending transverse the vehicle, supporting means slidable from one side of the vehicle along said rails, a refrigerant compressor and its associated evaporator mounted on said supporting means, a second supporting means slidable from said one side of the vehicle along said rails, a condenser for said compressor mounted on said second supporting means, a third supporting means slidable from the other side of the vehicle along said rails, a second refrigerant compressor and its associated evaporator mounted on said third supporting means, a fourth supporting means slidable from said other side of said vehicle along said rails, and a condenser for said second compressor mounted on said fourth supporting means.

IRVING S. BITTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,054,350 Weiland Sept. 15, 1936 2,099,747 Melcher Nov. 23, 1937 2,148,596 Weiland Feb. 28, 1939 2,320,596 Henny June 1, 1943 2,335,627 Wolfert Nov. 30, 1943 2,363,974 Kirkpatrick Nov. 28, 1944 

